Korean News Headline Grammar: -으리라는, -는다는
How Korean news compresses grammar. -으리라는 packs a forecast into a noun phrase (금리가 오르리라는 전망 — the forecast that rates will rise), -는다는 packs a report into one (사퇴한다는 발표 — the announcement that he will resign), and headlines drop particles, end on nouns, and ask -나/-는가 questions (또 올리나? — raising it again?).
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Written by Alvin Lim Certified Korean Language Teacher (Level 2)
Korean news writing compresses grammar into dense noun phrases, and two patterns do most of the heavy lifting. -으리라는 wraps a forecast into a modifier (금리가 오르리라는 전망이 나왔다 — a forecast emerged that rates will rise), -는다는 wraps a factual report into one (정부가 금리를 올린다는 소식이 전해졌다 — news came that the government will raise rates), and on top of that, headlines drop their particles, end on bare nouns, and pose -나/-는가 questions (금리 또 올리나? — raising rates again?; 무엇이 문제인가 — what is the problem?). Learn to unpack these and the front page opens up.
This lesson sits in the news-and-register thread, right after the four-character idioms in current-affairs commentary lesson. There you saw the vocabulary of news; here you see the grammar that squeezes a full sentence into a headline’s worth of space. Start with ten words that recur across the news page.
Ten words for reading the news page
Packing a forecast into a noun: -으리라는
Attach -으리라는 to a verb stem to label something as a forecast, expectation, or prediction that will then modify a noun. It is built from -으리라, the literary future (“will / would”), plus the adnominal 는, so the whole phrase means “the (forecast/hope) that … will —.” It belongs to the formal, written register of news and analysis, not everyday speech.
금리가 오르리라는 전망이 우세하다 = the forecast that rates will rise is dominant 문제가 해결되리라는 기대가 컸다 = there were high hopes that the problem would be solved 경기가 회복되리라는 예상이 빗나갔다 = the prediction that the economy would recover missed the mark 협상이 타결되리라는 관측이 나왔다 = an observation emerged that the talks would be settled
The head noun gives it away: 전망 (forecast), 기대 (expectation), 예상 (prediction), 관측 (observation) all pair with -으리라는 because they are all about what will happen. Swap in a flatter -ㄴ다는 and you lose the forward-looking, slightly literary color.
Packing a report into a noun: -는다는
Attach -는다는 (verbs) or -다는 (adjectives) to label a claim, report, or announcement that then modifies a noun. It is the plain indirect quote -ㄴ다/-는다 plus the adnominal 는: “the (news/announcement) that —.” This is the workhorse of news grammar; you will see it in nearly every article.
정부가 금리를 올린다는 소식이 전해졌다 = news came that the government will raise rates 장관이 사퇴한다는 발표가 있었다 = there was an announcement that the minister will resign 대책이 필요하다는 지적이 잇따랐다 = one after another came the point that measures are needed 예산이 부족하다는 우려가 제기됐다 = the concern that the budget is insufficient was raised
Here the head noun is 소식 (news), 발표 (announcement), 주장 (claim), 지적 (point), 우려 (concern) — labels for what was said or reported, not predictions. For a verb after a consonant use -는다는 (올린다는), after a vowel -ㄴ다는 (사퇴한다는); for an adjective, plain -다는 (필요하다는).
How headlines strip the grammar down
Beyond these two modifiers, headlines themselves follow three space-saving conventions that you have to decompress as you read. First, particles drop — case markers like 은/는/이/가/을/를 disappear, often replaced by a comma. Second, headlines end on a bare noun rather than a finite verb. Third, headlines pose questions with -나 or -는가, which you met earlier as ordinary enders but which here read as terse, detached prompts.
정부, 금리 동결 결정 = 정부(는) 금리(를) 동결(하기로) 결정(했다) 여야 합의 무산 = 여야의 합의가 무산되었다 (the agreement fell through) 금리 또 올리나 = 금리를 또 올리는가? (are they raising rates yet again?) 무엇이 문제인가 = what, then, is the problem?
None of these are separate “grammar points” so much as a reading skill: mentally re-insert the dropped 은/는/을/를, finish the dangling noun with its missing verb (무산 → 무산되었다), and hear -나/-는가 as the writer posing a question rather than asking you one.
A page of mock headlines, unpacked
Here are five invented headlines in real headline style, each followed by the full sentence a Korean reader reconstructs in their head:
한은, 금리 동결 결정 — 한국은행은 기준금리를 동결하기로 결정했다.
금리 또 올리나… 시장 긴장 — 금리를 또 올리는가 하는 관측에 시장이 긴장하고 있다.
“긴축 길어진다” 전망 우세 — 긴축이 길어지리라는 전망이 우세하다.
장관 사퇴설 보도… 당국 침묵 — 장관이 사퇴한다는 보도가 나왔으나 당국은 침묵하고 있다.
여야 합의 무산… 책임 공방 — 여야의 합의가 무산되면서 책임 공방이 벌어졌다.
The Bank of Korea decided to freeze the benchmark rate. / The market is on edge over whether rates will be raised yet again. / The forecast that austerity will run long is dominant. / A report emerged that the minister will resign, but the authorities are staying silent. / As the agreement between ruling and opposition parties fell through, a blame war broke out.
Decoding a headline together
Two readers puzzle out a terse headline over coffee — exactly the mental “decompression” this lesson trains:
Notice how 올리나 is heard as a question, 오르리라는 전망 keeps the news a forecast rather than a fact, 사퇴한다는 보도 keeps it a report, and the particle-dropping is something the readers consciously re-inflate. That decompression is news literacy in Korean.
FAQ
What is the difference between -으리라는 and -는다는 in a headline? Both turn a clause into a noun-modifier ending in 는, but they package different speech acts. -으리라는 builds on -으리라, the literary future (‘will / would’), so it labels a forecast, expectation, or prediction: 금리가 오르리라는 전망 = the forecast that rates will rise, 해결되리라는 기대 = the expectation that it will be resolved. -는다는 builds on the plain indirect report -ㄴ다/-는다, so it labels a claim, report, or announcement of fact: 금리를 올린다는 소식 = the news that they will raise rates, 사퇴한다는 발표 = the announcement that he will resign. Rule of thumb: if the head noun is 전망·예상·기대 (forecast/expectation), reach for -으리라는; if it is 소식·발표·주장·방침 (news/announcement/claim), reach for -는다는.
Why do Korean headlines drop particles and end on nouns? Space and speed. A headline must fit a narrow column and be scanned in a second, so writers strip out anything recoverable from context. Case particles go first: 정부, 금리 동결 결정 means 정부(는) 금리 동결(을) 결정(했다), with the comma standing in for the dropped 은/는. Then the sentence often ends on a bare noun instead of a finite verb: 여야 합의 무산 unpacks to 여야의 합의가 무산되었다 (the agreement fell through), and 금리 인상 발표 unpacks to 금리를 인상한다는 발표가 나왔다. Reading headlines fluently is largely the skill of mentally re-inserting the particles and the missing verb.
What do -나 and -는가 mean at the end of a headline? They are question enders that headlines borrow for a terse, detached tone. -나 reads as the writer wondering aloud: 금리 또 올리나 = raising rates yet again? — short, slightly skeptical, no reader is being addressed. -는가 is more formal and essayistic: 무엇이 문제인가 = what is the problem? — it frames an analytical question the article will answer. Neither expects a spoken reply; both are headline devices for posing an issue. You first met -나 and -는가 as ordinary question enders earlier in Grade 6; here they resurface compressed into headline style.
Next: editorial & op-ed style — -는다던가, -으리라고, -자면. Previous: four-character idioms in the news — 설상가상, -으래서야. Full path: curriculum hub.